ESRAG and Plastic Soup – Gert-Jan and Salvador on a Big ZOOM!
Meeting started with all the usual pomp and circumstance… President Pam Moulton ringing the virtual bell at 7:30 and followed by a recital of the Pledge of Allegiance led by Chris Landwehr, which was followed by a fun video provided by Heather Cullen. Oscar the Grouch shared his love of garbage.
Guests:
Introductions of visiting Rotarians, blended with non-Rotarians, because today’s topic is all about ending the Plastic Soup problem of the world. Our featured speaker came all the way from the Netherlands to be with us. I believe there is a time zone difference that gives him the prize for the farthest away. We also got a visitor from Peru, Dominigo Lorenzini, Santa Rosa Junior College’s newest enrollee.
A special Zoom moment was provided by Michael Juric, our resident Zoom Master. He was kind enough to share the best practices for Zoom meetings, so that people can respond.
Announcements:
Pres. Pam let us know we are going to be on Zoom through mid-February. Then she reminded us of our Rotarian of the Month, Chris Landwehr. Chris is the person that assigns our duties to keep the meetings rolling smoothly.
The following was provided by Pres Pam as highlights from the Board meeting:
BOARD Highlights – January 17, 2022
BUDGET (Carol and Ed)
•All Good!! – Lots of money in our WRCF and Club
•Lots of opportunities to do wonderful projects locally and internationally
•Decided that we need to write out our procedures for future club leaders!
YOUTH (Pegi)
•Kids are gearing up for the short term exchange – we will meet them!
•CHOICES is still alive but due COVID, we need to wait…
•KOOL KIDS Camp is still on – but at a reduced scale
CLUB OPERATIONS (Chris)
•Tom Boylan going to turn in his pen as scribe due to DG job
•SCRIBE class is happening TODAY after our regular ZOOM mtg
•Will work with Wally and DACdb to start to input practices into a database
RECOGNITION (DOUG)
•Looking for new person to work on Scholarship Committee
•All good for Teacher Appreciation and Recognition for fire and police
BOARD Highlights, continued – January 17, 2022
FOUNDATION (John H and Brian L)
•Going to wait for LIVE meeting to present the new Paul Harris recipients and PolioPlus recipients
•NO new cases of the WILD Polio Virus!!
Club Culture (Joan)
•3rd Thursday is for Rotary including this Thursday at Mengler Winery @5:30
•Truckers against Traffikers is in the conversation – not sure when!!
COMMUNICATION
JB to introduce WEBSITE at next week’s meeting!!
ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE (Barbara McChesney)
•We are an Ambassador Club joining 80 others around the world!
•Recommended Practices will be on Website
•Watch for HANDS ON activities for EARTH DAY and other events!
SERVICE (Sue Nelson and Susan Cole)
•We are way ahead of the curve with SERVING locally and internationally! We recommitted to over $62,000
•Planning on 2-3 International Projects SOON
BOARD Highlights – January 17, 2022
FUNDRAISING
Committed focus to:
Attendees
2. Sponsors and Donors
3. Auction Items
4. Greeters Giving
5. Broadcast Platform
Want all 63 members to register, invite friends, bid and have fun!!
Bill Conklin and Kurt Mitchler had an opportunity to talk about the committee meeting following the morning’s meeting. If you are on any of the committees for the fundraiser, you need to connect with Kurt for the link to the Zoom for future weeks. If you have an item to contribute, look for the form for submissions on the WindsorRotary.org site.
Bill Bolster announced the incoming president selection committee is looking for your input. If you have a suggestion for president 2024-2025 please let him know.
Sue Nelson got the shout out from Pres. Pam for stepping into the presidential role last week. Susan Cole got recognition for her leadership at last week’s meeting and the introduction she made to the new Windsor High School Welding Project.
Program
Barbara McChesney reminded us of her mission to eliminate single-use plastic and her involvement with ESRAG. She did a great job of introducing Salvador Ricci, a member of District 5130 and current area governor. Salvador shared his energy in fixing the environment through his river cleanup projects, which included the Russian River. He shared a video on how easy it is for pollution to collect, and the importance of having Rotary and its resources to repair the damage pollution causes.
Salvador Rico: Rotarian for over 12 years and is a member of the Rotary club of South Ukiah. He has been a passionate champion of keeping our rivers clean since his first project in 2009. Since then, he has helped start river clean-up projects with the support of rotary clubs internationally. He has presented his River Ameca in Mexico clean-up project to the Mexican Consular General and representative to the UN. He is a past president and Paul Harris fellow. He is the father of five and owner of Alliance Auto in Ukiah.
Salvador shared a variety of projects that have been completed in Mexico, and let us know that a planned environmental clean-up project in Mexico is being put on hold until next October due to Covid concerns. You can contact him if you have an interest in getting involved.
Salvador Rico Assistant Governor 2021-2023 from the Rotary Club of South Ukiah D5130. 707-391-4010 [email protected]
Barbara then introduced us to Gert Jan van Dommelen, Rotary Coordinator for Huizen Gooimeer.
Gert-Jan Dommelen: Co-founder of the End Plastic Soup global environment initiative to solve and prevent plastic pollution. His experience includes program manager and consulting leader at IBM corporation and he is a Program Manager and Business Transformation consultant.
He left his job with IBM to devote full time efforts to End Plastic Soup. He has a successful track record in the financial, public, healthcare and industrial sectors and a deep understanding of business alignment and technology adoption to meet corporate objectives and timelines.
Leader with vision and execution drive, delivering transformation programs with a strong focus on quality control, the value for all stakeholders including long term business benefits. Gert-Jan is passionate about circular economy, next generation living, learning and building a future of inclusiveness. He is a Paul Harris fellow with Rotary International and honored Member of the Dutch Royal Order of Oranje Nassau.
The initiative to end plastic soup started 3.5 years ago. The action began locally and when the project was shared at an International Convention, the support became dramatic on Rotary’s part. The goal of the campaign is to leave it up to Rotary Clubs to take action independently to change our use of plastics, and in particular the intrusion of plastics into our local environment.
It turns out that the real problem with plastics is that they never go away, plastic just gets smaller and then it intrudes into our plankton, which is the gatekeeper for providing oxygen to the planet. And you thought it was trees that made all the oxygen… Plastic breaks down to micrometers, which gives it every opportunity to penetrate our skin, and that is a problem, not because of the actual plastic nano-bits, but because the toxins associated with plastic production internal means these additives reach into our human bodies, which can affect our ability to produce children, and has negative effects on just about every aspect of our internals.
Plastic production is over the top. Take a look at endplasticsoup.org to see how great the problem is, and why the initiative is so important to humanity.
The meeting ended with a reminder from President Pam to attend Zoom meetings until mid-February, and the following quote:
We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
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Latest COVID information from your Rotary Nurse!
If you or someone you know needs a N95 mask or needs a COVID test, call us!
01/18/22
COVID UPDATE:
OMICRON SURGE NOT YET PEAKED!!!! Surgeon General states that the next few weeks may be difficult with case surges. ******* 30 DAY BAN ORDERED ON LARGE GATHERINGS! January 12th , this ban took place and mandated that all gatherings indoors of more than 50 people and more than 100 outdoor were to be prohibited by Sonoma county Public Health officials in a move to curb the wide spread of Omicron. This surge threatens to overwhelm local hospitals and medical services. This order does not apply to normal classroom or recess activities and schools remain open. Workplace settings, courthouse activities, places of worship, cafeterias or any venue that is open to the public as part of regular operations, including shopping malls, stores, restaurants and museums are exempt for now. It also specifies that gatherings of individuals who are at higher risk of severe illness from COVID must be limited to no more than 12 people, except for family gatherings. Sonoma County Health Officer has also issued a countywide appeal for residents to voluntarily stay home and restrict large gatherings. Check the new order online for its’ entirety…..
FDA has authorized boosters for youths, ages 12-15. FDA also shortened to 5 months the time required between 2nd dose and ability to be given the Booster.
OMICRON cases are now averaging about 1255 new COVID cases per day (last week we were seeing about 600)! We have also seen a spike in the number of people hospitalized with COVID in our county hospitals; this does not mean that these patients entered the hospital because of COVID but it does mean they have tested positive for COVID upon admission. The numbers of health care personnel likewise are becoming positive and are sick, straining the ability to provide care in a county where we have limited nurses and CNA’s. (nurses aides)
Our State is now requiring masks to be worn indoors. California is also recommending travelers who visit or return to California to get tested within 5 days of their arrival and the Federal government is imposing stricter regulations for testing when flying. Testing can be difficult to find, but check for pop up clinics daily and I do offer testing at my office with an appointment. Call us at 707-546-8773 if you are having any issues finding a test site.
We do remain vulnerable to the coronavirus with more travel happening, large gatherings occurring and people letting down their guard.
If you want to schedule either a booster or the vaccine, appointments can be found by visiting: https://socoemergency.org/events/category/pop-up-vaccine or call 707-565-4667.
Total Cases: 62,980** (last week 544,199) Recovered: 44,139 (last week 43,661) Active Cases: 18,415** (last week 10,117) ***Please note this spike in numbers!!! We continue to climb***
Deaths: 426 (last week 421) Please continue to honor those we have lost by encouraging those you know who have not become vaccinated, to get their COVID shot, get a booster and their flu shot.
Do your utmost best to shelter at home as much as you can and help our community stop this current surge! Do not go to an Emergency Room (ER) unless it is truly an emergency as you are impacting medical care for those who really need it and you do chance exposure. Test if you have symptoms
New Cases: 8781** cases this past week (last week 2832) – this is a huge increase and demonstrates how infectious Omicron is and how fast it is spreading through our County.
Hospitalized: 88 confirmed and 3 suspected (last week 76 confirmed and 2 suspected)
Vaccination information…. As of January 16th, 2022, 956,677 doses of vaccination have been given to residents in Sonoma County. (last week 938,476). 78% of our population 5 years and older (5-11 year olds have now been approved and are counted in the population vaccinated or not) are fully vaccinated and approximately 8% have received at least 1 dose.
MASKS: Please do not use your cloth masks – Omicron is highly contagious and will get through. Switch to surgical mask, KN95 or the N95. If you must continue to use your cloth masks, then please use two and double up. This will help with the spread of this fast spreading variant. The CDC is also recommending if you use a surgical mask to wear a cloth mask over it, thereby making a tighter seal. Fortunately, Omicron does not seem to attack the lungs like the Delta variant but instead causes more of a respiratory illness.
There are now new requirements on testing before flying – our government has mandated within 24 hrs of a flight and more countries are requiring testing to travel in or out. If you are traveling, please ensure you check with your airlines to see what the requirements are before you leave. The State is also suggesting that anyone traveling when you return to test 3-5 days after your return. Isolation requirements for those positive but asymptomatic, fully vaccinated and boosted have been decreased to 5 days, unless you are still symptomatic on day 5. If you are then you should continue to isolate or stay home for the full 10 days.
Get your booster if you are eligible! It is highly recommended to give your immune system a boost. Also get your Flu vaccine as we do not want citizens coming down with the flu. This not only compromises their immune systems, but can also weaken their lungs. We need to keep our beds hospital beds free to those really sick and help our limited medical staff ready to help those with COVID and not have our county residents admitted with the flu.
Stay home if you are able and stay away from groups as much as possible as this Omicron goes through our community. Be cautious, Mask up, get your booster, your flu shot and just be careful as we learn to live with this virus……..
Please know that I am always available to answer questions, help with scheduling appointment, providing a test or even FIT testing you for a N95 mask so that it fits properly.
Thanks
Di